Conflict of Interest

Andrew Ross’s new book, Bird on Fire, a profile of the urban absurdity that is Phoenix AZ, opens chapter 1 with an observation I remember discussing countless times with friends while doing CRM work in New England in the 1980s. He writes:

Of all the livelihoods made possible by land development, Cory Breternitz’s job was one of the more peculiar. He was paid to do archaeological excavations by people who hoped he would find nothing of interest.